Three Dreams
by Mertiya
Summary: Assigned group projects are definitely the worst. Especially when you throw one eccentric genius, one traumatized over-achiever, and one tired engineering major who just wants to get a passing grade into the mix. And make sure that they all have crushes on one another.


**Three Dreams**

"That's not going to give you optimal cache performance."

"The fucking code is still segfaulting, you asshole. I don't care about the _performance_ until we fix—"

"Look, just optimize it now, there's no point in doing more work than we need to."

Angry growl. " _You_ optimize it, if it's so important."

"That's what I'm _trying_ to—"

Gideon interjected. "Will you two _please_ stop bickering?" They had been working on this project for at least five hours now, and the time seemed to drag on. Even sneaking covert glances at his surprisingly attractive project partners was starting to get old. Especially since they literally never stopped arguing. He groaned. Damn Professor Mizzet and randomly assigned groups for projects worth thirty percent of his grade. He did not fucking need this.

"We are not bickering," Ral Zarek responded haughtily. "I am trying to make sure that we do a good job on this project."

"I just want to pass this class," Gideon said hopelessly. "It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to _work_."

"I am trying to make it work," Jace Beleren said stonily.

"You have _far_ too many classes," Ral said airily. "It's a wonder it's even working."

"It isn't working," Gideon pointed out, and received a death glare from Jace. He wondered vaguely if the freshman of the group ever took off his trademark blue hoody. Certainly, Gideon had never seen him class without it.

"I just have to find whatever is causing this segfault," Jace gritted out. "And then it will compile and _then_ we can optimize it."

"God, Mizzet is such an asshole," Ral whined. "This fucking assignment is so boring. And seriously, who assigns random groups?" Despite the fact that this was what Gideon had just been thinking, he didn't like the implications it had when Ral said it.

"You're an asshole," Jace shot back. "We'd know what we were doing if you hadn't slowed class down to ask a bunch of questions designed to flaunt your goddamn 'superior intellect.'"

Gideon had to nod at that, pointing a thumb toward the smaller man. "Yeah, I have to agree with Beleren on this one."

"No one asked you," snarled Ral.

"Okay," said Gideon. "Fuck it. I'm going to get something from the vending machine. You guys can sort out your alpha nerd dick-measuring contest while I'm gone."

"Gideon, wait," Jace said, but Gideon was already heading out of the room. A breath of fresh air sounded really nice at the moment.

* * *

Jace sighed, letting his eyes linger on Gideon's ass as he headed out the door. He usually enjoyed coding, but a group project with two assigned group members, one of whom was the frustratingly egotistical Ral Zarek—and it didn't help that a small part of Jace wanted to impress Ral really, really badly—was not his idea of fun.

"I saw that look," Ral drawled.

"What?" Jace said, determinedly forcing his eyes back to the screen in front of him. "What look?"

"Got the hots for Jura?" Ral asked.

"No," Jace said, automatically following up with, "I'm not gay."

"Is it really just me?"

"Huh?" Jace said intelligently, feeling his stomach sink a slight inch further. Which was stupid, because he absolutely had been checking Gideon out, and what was the problem if Ral had been as well?

"He may not be good at coding, but damn," Ral continued. "I would let him pin me to a desk and fuck me silly."

Jace felt heat rising on his face. "That's nice," he said coldly. "Maybe we should get back to this."

"What's the matter?" Ral asked. "Does sex bother you, Beleren?"

Grinding his teeth, Jace stared steadily at the code dancing in front of his eyes. "Nope," he said. "Just isn't really relevant right now."

"I guess," Ral sighed. "Uh, hey." He seemed suddenly awkward as he leaned across Jace, reaching for a pen he'd left lying on the other side of the computer. "I am actually interested in Mizzet's answers at least fifty percent of the time. Didn't really mean to derail the class."

Jace slid to the side, intending to pull another notebook out of his backpack, but he lost control of the chair and crashed into Ral, falling forward onto the other man's lap. Graceful. "S-sorry," he muttered, trying to regain his balance. "I didn't mean to, um, I just…" He trailed off and found himself looking up unwillingly into Ral's piercing dark eyes. "I guess I'm a little defensive," he said vaguely.

"You're one of the only two freshmen in the class," Ral shrugged. "It's not that weird."

"Mmm," Jace assented. Shit. He was staring right at Ral's lips now, and he really did not want to set himself back upright in his chair. Shit. Abort. No way was this going to go well, no way was this going to end in anything other than tears and—

Ral tipped his head forward questioningly. Jace could feel Ral's breath on his face. "I thought you said you weren't gay?" Ral said, his voice half needling, half curious.

"Well," Jace managed, as his heartbeat sped up and the sudden drumbeat threatened to drown out all the other noises. "I like girls, but uh…I never said I wasn't bi…"

"Heh," Ral snickered, and then one hand was on the back of Jace's head. "Damn, you really had me going," he breathed, and then his lips were on Jace's. Jace moaned into the kiss, his hands tangling in the slightly grubby button-up shirt Ral was wearing. Ral's other hand slid down the front of Jace's hoody and skillfully unbuttoned his jeans.

"Holy shit," Jace managed to mumble through a mouthful of Ral's tongue. "Mph, oh god."

The kiss deepened, Ral's teeth scraping along his bottom lip. "You like that?" the other man murmured, and Ral's hand wrapped around his erection. Jace bucked upward, losing himself in the sensation.

* * *

"Have you two sorted out—whoa, uh." Gideon nearly let the door of the computer lab slam shut on his hand. "That is not what I meant when I said you two should have a dick-measuring contest."

Jace was still wearing his hoody, but apparently nothing else. His legs were hooked over Ral's shoulders, his head flung back against the headrest of the chair. Eyes shut, dark lashes covering his cheeks, and a heavy pink flush on his cheekbones, he was even more attractive than Gideon had imagined he'd be in this kind of—situation. Ral's head was bobbing between his legs, but both of them looked up as Gideon walked in. Jace looked mortified, but Ral just leaned back and grinned. "Oh, hi," he said nonchalantly. "Wanna join?"

"Ral!" Jace protested, squirming around in the chair and trying to pull his sweatshirt down to cover himself.

"What?"

"Uh," said Gideon, then sighed. "We're not getting any more work on this project done tonight, are we." It wasn't a question. "Yeah, sure, why not?"

"He's not going to want to—" Jace started, then blinked back and forth between Ral and Gideon. "Uh, what?"

"Only if you both want me to." Gideon held up his hands in some embarrassment. "I can also just—" he hooked his thumb backwards. "—give you two some time to yourselves."

"Well, I was joking, but sure," Ral grinned. "I have no problem with it."

Jace, who had succeeded at this point in drawing his knees up to his chest and pulling his hoody down over them, was blushing. "O-Okay," he said. "You're just going to need to give me a minute. I don't exactly do this a whole lot."

"Could've fooled me," muttered Ral, putting on an innocent expression when Jace glared at him. The freshman retreated into his hoody again for a long minute, tugging it down over his eyes. Then he pushed it back and let his legs slide down the chair. Gideon found himself staring at Jace's crotch.

"Hey," Jace said irritably. "My eyes are up here."

"Nice," Gideon said appreciatively, stepping into the room. "Maybe we should lock the door, though."

"Please," Jace agreed emphatically, and Gideon did so.

"So," said Ral. "How exactly are we doing this? I mean, I could take Jace's mouth, and you could—"

" _No_ ," Jace said emphatically. "Just no. Not happening."

"Well, I was just thinking so that everyone has something to do," Ral leered. "But fine."

"Does someone want to be penetrated?" Gideon asked bluntly.

There was a brief pause, and then Jace pulled his knees up to his chest, blushing again. "I, um, sure?" he said. "Don't give me that look, Ral, I just don't want a cock in my mouth. I'd rather be able to kiss the other person, okay?"

Ral rolled his eyes. "I should have known you'd be the hopeless romantic, Beleren. Have you even done this before?"

"I'm not a virgin," Jace said angrily. "I've had plenty of experience."

"So you've had sex, what, twice before?"

Jace scowled at him. "Hey," said Gideon. "Before you two get into another argument, maybe we could actually do this thing. I've got some condoms, but I'm not sure about lube…"

"I've got this," Ral said, diving for his backpack. Jace and Gideon stared at him as he pulled out three monster energy drinks, a bottle of compressed air, and a dice bag, the last of which he opened to pull out a small bottle of lubricant. "What?" he asked, looking at their faces. "Unlike you, Jace, I am gay. And my ex-boyfriend and I hooked up after D&D a lot."

"Okay." Jace took a deep breath. "Then the easiest thing is probably going to be to have Gideon sitting down, so that I can, uh, you know, sit in his lap, and—"

"Why can't _I_ fuck you?" Ral put in petulantly.

"Because he'll actually be gentle," Jace shot back.

Ral grumbled something under his breath, but subsided.

"Okay," Gideon said, toeing off his shoes and awkwardly heading for the chair. "Toss me the lube, Ral?" He paused as he started undoing his belt as an awkward thought struck him. "Hey, Jace, you're a freshman."

Jace glanced at him, vacating the spot where he'd just been sitting. "Yeah?"

"You, um, you're over…I mean you're old enough…right?"

Putting a hand over his face, Jace spoke with a voice muffled by his fingers. "Yes-I-am-legal-oh-my-god."

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to make sure." Gideon rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, then started, a little self-consciously, to take off his t-shirt and jeans. Both Ral and Jace watched him, Ral with unashamed interest, Jace, clearly embarrassed again, from underneath the long lashes hiding his dark eyes. He slid into the seat that Jace had left open. Ral shoved the lubricant at him as Jace glanced behind himself nervously and then stood in front of Gideon.

Ral loomed over Jace, and Gideon stared up at both, noticing in amusement that the lanky sophomore was four or five inches taller. Jace seemed to have noticed as well, because he made an irritable noise and yanked Ral's head down for a kiss. Ral laughed lightly, hands playing over Jace's back and one hand slipping down and forwards. Gideon couldn't see where it landed from his angle, but the sudden sharp moan from Jace made it pretty obvious.

It took a moment before Gideon realized that he had been too busy staring to start doing anything, and that he was very definitely hard at this point. Well, he might as well get involved.

He covered his right hand in lube and leaned forward, drawing Jace back toward him, and started to kiss up Jace's spine, nudging the sweatshirt upward with his nose. Jace made a soft, overwhelmed noise, and Gideon rested his cold hand on the top of his thigh. "You good?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jace mumbled through a mouthful of what was presumably Ral Zarek, and Gideon bit his lip and breached him with a finger. Jace whined and ground down against him, and Gideon heard Ral moan as well, felt Ral's weight shift forward, and Jace stumbled and landed on Gideon's right leg, trapping his hand.

"Like that?" Ral asked breathlessly, one of his hands escaping from Jace to slide questioningly up Gideon's bare side.

"Y-Yeah," Jace stammered. "Fuuuuuck."

Gideon slid a hand around his stomach and shifted him slightly so that he could move his fingers again. Jace moving—practically wriggling, actually—against his hand felt both odd and pleasant. God, it had to be past midnight at this point, Gideon thought vaguely. Maybe that would explain how he'd ended up having a threesome with his two lab partners, instead of working on their project, like sane people.

"Ah Christ," moaned Ral, leaning forward. Gideon reached out with his free hand and caught at Ral's shoulder.

"Are you still wearing clothes?" he asked, faintly accusatorily.

"Not my fault Jace hasn't taken my shirt off yet," Ral smirked.

"Gnnngh," Jace said breathlessly. "Not fair, not—oh god—" Gideon smiled slowly and moved the finger in and out, and Jace sobbed. "Somebody—please—touch me—"

"But we _are_ touching you, Jace," Ral said. Gideon watched him kissing down Jace's neck, and leaned forward to kiss across the younger man's spine again.

"You know what I—what I meant," Jace managed. "Oh my god, Gideon, can you please—another—another finger—yeah—"

Jace tasted of sweat and coffee. How did his back taste of coffee? Was he a barista in his off-hours or did he just drink that much coffee? Gideon swirled his tongue across Jace's back and down into the low hollow of it, just above where his fingers were moving slowly in and out. A hand—Ral's, he thought—tangled in his hair and slid down his back, nails scratching lightly across his skin. He arched his back, moving into the sensation, and he was thrusting at the base of Jace's thighs. Another movement of his fingers, and Jace moaned, long and low.

"You good?" Gideon asked again.

"Uh—huh," Jace stuttered out.

"Hand me the condom, Ral."

"Sure thing." Ral's voice wasn't so nonchalant anymore, and he spoke from the junction of Jace's neck with his shoulder. "Here you go." He pushed a condom into Gideon's hand, and then moaned into Jace's neck. Jace bucked up against him, and Gideon hissed at the sensation. He rolled the condom on with shaking hands, and then tried to line Jace's hips up for a thrust.

"Hey, can you spread your legs a bit more?" Jace wriggled in his lap, and Gideon's eyes rolled up in his head, because Jesus fuck nothing should feel that good. Hands on Jace's hips, he steadied the younger man as he thrust slowly, inch by exquisite inch. Jace gasped, his head falling back to land on Gideon's shoulder.

"Jace?" Ral's voice, suddenly concerned. Gideon paused.

There was a long moment of silence. "Wh-what?" Jace asked, and this time Gideon heard the tremor as well.

"You're shaking like a leaf, man. Hey."

"Do you need me to stop?" Gideon asked.

"I'm fine," Jace said, through clenched jaws, in a tone of voice that sounded anything but fine. Now that Ral had pointed it out, Gideon could feel him trembling, and he was annoyed at himself for not noticing earlier, for taking Jace's brief words at face value.

"Okay, I'm gonna pull out," he said, but Jace reached back and grabbed his hand.

"No, really, I'm fine," he said urgently. "I'm not trying to ruin this, I just—I just need a minute."

"Jace, we can trade places," Ral said. "I have zero problems taking it up the ass."

Gideon nodded. "It's not a problem," he put in.

The noise Jace made was halfway between a growl and a sob. "I don't want to," he said fiercely. "I mean, I'm enjoying myself, I just keep fucking tensing up. Uh," he paused. "I mean, if you'd rather we traded places—"

"Jesus Christ, I am trying to be thoughtful for once," Ral snarled. "You're not making it easy, you idiot."

"Do you know why you're tensing up?" Gideon asked. He let one hand trace across Jace's chest gently, and to his surprise, he found that Ral was doing the same thing.

"Yeah, probably," Jace muttered in frustration. He leaned forward and kissed Ral on the lips, before touching his forehead to Ral's. "I didn't have a great experience last time someone stuck something up there. I started tensing up, she told me to relax, I told her I couldn't, and, uh, she sort of ignored me. Basically."

"Jesus Christ," said Gideon. "I think I'd better—"

He started trying to move backwards, and Jace reached for his arm again. " _Please_ don't," he said. "I am seriously enjoying being here with you guys, and I don't want to stop. I really, really do not want to stop." He ground his teeth. "Unless you do, I mean, I don't want you to—ugh, sorry."

Ral chuckled. "You're both being way too nice," he said. "Jace, just tell him you'll tell him to stop if you need him to, and why don't I make this all better with a nice blowjob?"

Gideon raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think that will—"

Ral's head dipped downward as he slid down Jace's front, and Jace cried out breathlessly. "Fuck," he said. "That helps—oh god—oh my god—"

Gideon frowned, but started moving slowly again, leaning forward into Jace's back with a groan, but made a mental note that Jace wasn't going to avoid talking about whatever the fuck had happened to him this easily. Oh, Christ. This wasn't just sex with his lab partners anymore, was it? He was concerned about both of the damn idiots—well, mostly Jace. Well, he could worry about that in the morning.

Jace was trembling again, but this time it was because he was so fucking close, not because the memories had ambushed him. Ral's mouth on his cock, sliding up and down, pulled noises out of his throat he hadn't known he could make, and by now Gideon's slow movements behind him had hit exactly the perfect angle that he hadn't actually been sure existed. The solid warmth at his back was reassuring, and he felt strangely light, unanchored and floating.

"Oh god," he managed again. Ral's tongue flicked up his shaft, and Gideon's strong arms held him tight, Gideon's lips on the back of his neck. "I'm so c-close," he managed. "I'm—" Falling, the floating sensation gone, falling because there was someone inside, and he was tensing up again, as the fear waited to ambush him, choke him off. He shut his eyes, trying to ward it off, but it wouldn't go, felt Ral's lips suck, and Ral's hand move to land gently on his upper thigh, where it was almost immediately joined by Gideon's, as if to say, _We've got you._

The panic ebbed as quickly as it had risen, and the sensations spread heat across his stomach, heat spiking in his groin. He leaned forward across Ral, groaning, and the groan turned into a whimper as Gideon's thrusting became slightly more vigorous. "I—I'm really—really—" One hand was tangled in Ral's hair, the other clawing at his shoulder, and he was making little abortive thrusting motions with his hips, trying to get more without forcing himself into Ral's mouth too hard.

One more thrust from Gideon, and he was over the edge with a shout, the world turning white and dissolving around him. When his brain cleared, he was still slumping forward over the front of the chair, with Ral kneeling back in front of him and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Careful," Gideon's voice said in his ear. "You don't want to fall over. Do you need me out now?"

Jace flopped backwards, his head landing on Gideon's shoulder. "Nah," he said, suddenly almost giddy. "I'm good. I'm super relaxed right now."

"Told you it would work," Ral said smugly, as Gideon grunted in Jace's ear and started to thrust again, still pretty gentle. "My blow jobs are fucking miraculous, man."

"Yeah, wow," Jace panted. "Thanks. You should get closer so I can get my hands on you."

"Well, I'm not gonna say to no to that," Ral replied, leaning forward. It took Jace two fumbling tries to get at the buttons of the shirt he was still wearing, jolted by Gideon's continued movements and the little twinges of ecstacy running up his spine, but he managed eventually. Ral's shirt came off to reveal a chest that was heavily covered in tattoos and several piercings.

"Wow," Jace said appreciatively.

"Nice," Gideon added breathless from behind him. "Oh fuck, hold on a sec—" He grunted and bit down gently on Jace's shoulder as he climaxed.

Ral's grin got, if possible, even wider. "Didn't know I could make someone come just from looking at me," he smirked.

"Get over here," Jace responded exhaustedly, and suddenly found himself with a large quantity of Ral on his lap. Gideon laughed behind him, and the vibration sent shivers down his spine. His lips crashed into Ral's, pulling the sophomore against him tightly. Ral moaned into the kiss, rutting against his leg, and Jace slid a hand down to grasp him.

"Hang on," Gideon said. "I want to get in on this. Jace, let me up." Standing carefully on wobbly legs, Jace managed to let Gideon slide out from inside and behind him, and then collapsed again under Ral's weight. A moment later, Ral's moan turned into a whine, followed by a breathless obscenity. Gideon leaned over his shoulder, grinning, and kissed the half of Jace's mouth that Ral wasn't already sucking on. Ral thrust into Jace's hand, and Jace started to move his hand. "C'mon," he murmured. "How's that?"

"Oh god, oh fuck," Ral panted. "Jesus wept, that's— _fuck_. How many fingers do you have up my ass, Gideon?"

Gideon snickered. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said. Jace smiled and started nipping down Ral's neck, tasting his sweat as Ral moaned and his words morphed into incomprehensible gibberish laced with obscenities.

He was hot and hard in Jace's hand, wriggling and desperate against his front. God, the fucking impossible, irritating genius from Mizzet's class, the one Jace always measured himself against, was writhing underneath his touch and—he paused—yeah, calling out his name.

"Don't stop, dammit," Ral objected, leaning into Jace, one hand grabbing roughly at his head and dragging him into a heated kiss. Gideon's delighted laughter reached Jace's ears, and that had Ral moaning breathlessly again. "Fuck, I'm close, I'm really—" He broke off with a rough cry as he climaxed over Jace's hand, the nails of one hand digging into Jace's neck.

For a long moment, the three of them breathed together. Then Jace leaned backwards sleepily. "I better get myself cleaned up, I guess," he said. "We're not going to finish this assignment, are we?"

Ral rubbed a hand across his face. "I'll get us an extension from Professor Mizzet," he said. "Over half the class probably isn't going to finish on time anyway."

"Thank god," Gideon said. "I want to go get some sleep, and I really need to pass this class."

Jace frowned, thinking about his dorm room with something less than full enthusiasm. His subconscious had had an irritating habit of sending him nightmares lately. Well, whatever. He yanked his hoody down with his clean hand and started to get up.

"Hang on a sec there," Gideon said, and he was stopped by a hand tugging at the back of the hoody. "You okay, Jace? You just went totally dead."

"Huh?" said Jace. "Oh. Yeah. Sure."

"That was literally the least convincing reassurance I have ever heard," drawled Ral. "Someone really did a number on you, didn't they, kid?"

Jace glared at him. "Don't call me 'kid'," he said frostily. "And I'm fine. I don't know what you're talking about."

"My apartment is really close," Gideon put in. "Why don't we all go back there? I've got a spare couch-bed you could probably both fit in. My roommates won't care."

Jace opened his mouth to protest and then sighed and closed it. "Uh, sure," he said. "Thanks."

* * *

"Fuck!" Ral blinked his watering eyes open. A painful jab in the back of the head had woken him up. He groaned and rolled over, to find that Jace was thrashing around in the bed beside him. His elbow was likely responsible for Ral's rude awakening. "What the fuck, Beleren?" Ral demanded. He looked over to see that Jace's eyes were still shut, teeth clenched, soft whimpering sounds coming from his throat. Ral sighed. Well, this had certainly been quite the night. It could only have gotten more interesting if they'd all gotten drunk together, but maybe that could be arranged at some future date.

"Hey, Jace," he said, shoving at Jace's shoulder. "Wake up, idiot."

Jace muttered something, scooting back across the bed, and Ral poked him again. This time, the dark eyes fluttered open dazedly. "Huh?" Jace said intelligently. He looked around, pulling the hoody he was still wearing tightly around himself.

"You were having a bad dream," Ral said. "And you woke me up."

"Oh," muttered Jace. "Sorry."

Ral sighed. "C'mere," he said, putting an arm around Jace's shoulder and dragging him close. "Gideon is probably cuddlier than I am, but he's asleep in the other room, so I guess you'll have to put up with me. What the fuck is the matter?"

"Long story," Jace said stiffly, but he curled into Ral. "Don't really wanna talk about it."

"You sure?"

There was a long pause. "For now," Jace said eventually. "I don't _actually_ know you guys that well."

"I had your dick in my mouth earlier," Ral pointed out.

Jace glared. "Yeah, well."

"Gideon's dick was up your ass."

"Yeah, well."

"You were fine with that, but not with talking."

Jace shrugged awkwardly. "That was easier. I don't know. Look, I just—last semester, I was dating this girl, and it—didn't exactly go well. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to talk about her. She just keeps trying to—um, get me back? Not exactly. It wasn't a good break-up."

"Okay, I get it." Ral leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, and Jace didn't pull away. That was weird. Oh, well, if he ended up dating two people at once, whatever. Couldn't be more of a fucked-up ride than his last relationship, after all. Jace was cute, and Gideon was—a lot more palatable than Ral had expected him to be. Surprisingly nice, for a jock from engineering. Of course, Jace obviously had hella issues. But then, so did Ral himself. They could probably manage, he thought vaguely, as Jace snuggled into his side.

"What's her name?" he asked sleepily into the dimness.

"Who?"

"Your ex."

"Oh." A brief shiver. "Liliana Vess."

* * *

Gideon woke up to the smell of coffee wafting into his bedroom. Nice. He yawned and stretched, then got up slowly and shambled out into the tiny kitchen. No sign of either of his roommates, but Ral Zarek was bending over the coffee machine, looking very pleased with himself. He looked up as Gideon came in.

"Morning," Gideon said with another yawn. "I see you got the coffeepot working."

"Yeah, wasn't too hard," Ral responded. "Gonna need a lot of coffee today."

"Where's Jace?"

Ral nodded his head toward the living room. "Kid had nightmares," he said. "I figured I'd let him sleep. Class isn't for another hour anyway."

Gideon nodded and reached around Ral for a cup of coffee. He paused, arm hovering in the air above the sophomore's shoulder. "Hey, um," he said. "Do you think there's something more here than sex?"

Ral's eyebrows went up. "Yeah," he said shortly, a little guardedly. "There could be."

"Good," Gideon smiled. He swooped down and kissed Ral's cheek. Ral took a surprised half-step back, but didn't protest.

"Hey," he said. "Either way—whatever Jace says about, well, us, I got the name of the chick who's responsible for whatever shit he's been through. Looked her up this morning. Apparently she's a graduate student here."

"Why was he dating a grad student?"

Ral shrugged. "Dunno exactly. Either way, I want to keep her as far away from him as possible. You with me?"

Gideon found himself nodding before Ral had finished the question. "Yeah. Definitely."

A shuffling noise in the corridor announced the appearance of the man they'd been discussing. Jace's hair was rumpled, and there were dark circles under his eyes, but he was still wearing the blue hoody. "Hey," he mumbled. "I smelled coffee."

"Hey," Ral said flippantly. "Jace, decision time. Me, Gideon, or both?"

Gideon shot an irritated look at Ral, who smirked back. This was the kind of discussion they ought to be having more seriously when there was more time. But Jace, despite the evident exhaustion, actually grinned.

"Both, definitely," he said. "If that's an option, I mean."

Huh. Apparently there were some things about Jace that Ral understood better than Gideon did. Duly noted. "Cool," he said. "You guys want waffles?"

"Glad I'm _not_ competing," Ral said. "I can't compete with waffles. And fuck yes."

"Awesome," Jace said. "Can I have some coffee, too?"

"Come and get it," Ral answered. Jace headed across the room, slightly hesitantly putting an arm around both of them. Gideon leaned in and kissed the back of his head, and Ral's hand slipped down Jace's back. Jace gave a surprised, protesting noise, and then laughed.

"Okay, I guess you can grab my ass," he said. "As long as I get some coffee soon. And by soon I mean immediately."

"Here," Ral said, shoving a cup of steaming coffee at him. His eyes met Gideon's over the top of Jace's head, and he grinned again, then winked. Gideon stared for a minute and then had to smile back. This—could work. He reached across Jace and dragged Ral sideways so that he could sling his arm around them both. Yeah, this could definitely work.


End file.
